Monday, August 14, 2017

See Rock City




"See Rock City"


 Does that phrase above look familiar to you? It would if you grew up in the South as I did!  Rock City is in Georgia and has been a tourist destination since 1932 and was developed by Garnet Carter and his wife, Frieda.  Giant rock formations are on the very top of Lookout Mountain and the park was built to showcase the natural beauty. (It is only 6 miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee and as the park is on the Georgia side of Lookout Mountain, I can claim it for Georgia!)   Since advertising was a bit difficult in those days, Mr. Carter asked a young sign painter by the name of Clark Byers to travel the highways and offer to paint a farmer's barn and in exchange the farmer would agree to having the barn's roof painted with these three words: SEE ROCK CITY.  
Now, I only knew that I had seen them growing up in Georgia but reading about it, I have learned that they were painted as far north as Michigan and as far west as Texas! He painted over 900 roofs in 19 states from 1935 to 1969.
The signs were a great success and people flocked to Rock City!

Where did Mr. Carter get the money to develop this park? You would never guess! In 1927, he was the first to patent a game that he called "Tom Thumb Golf", he is considered to be one of the fathers of miniature golf! He sold the rights to the patent and used this to fund the Rock City Gardens.

Originally, there was to be a residential neighborhood on the top of Lookout Mountain and because his wife Frieda was from Germany, she wished for it to be called "Fairyland".  Luckily, the development for houses fell through but the idea of Fairyland was not! Frieda decided to develop it into a rock garden.  She took a string and carefully laid out a trail around the giant rock formations, ending at the giant outcropping known as Lover's Leap.
She planted wildflowers and other plants along the trail. Frieda imported statues of gnomes and fairytale characters from Germany and positioned them inside a tunnel in one of the giant rocks. How much I loved this! Fairyland Caverns, I think it was called and along with Mother Goose Village,  it is one of my favorite memories of my childhood, seeing these fairy tale figures! It seems that I remember Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs and that the dwarfs were on a little bridge. (Just looked it up, and I remember it correctly!)  "Rainbow Hall" was another area I liked, looking through colored gels apparently, I didn't know what it was as a kid, for me it was magic!

Now, the trail itself...my love of walking among rock and flowers must have started at a very young age at Rock City. (There are 400 native plant species on the trail...thank you Frieda Carter!) I well remember the Fat Man's Squeeze (like the name implies, a stretch where the rocky mountain sides are close together and you have to squeeze through!)  Also, that there were two bridges across a very deep gorge...one was a beautiful sturdy stone bridge and the other one was a ...wait for it, a swinging bridge, that was very scary to me! The views from the top were amazing...and you could see why it was called Lookout Mountain!










I wish I could proclaim from the rooftops...see nature and enjoy it wherever you are!








27 comments:

  1. I have seen those signs before. I always wondered where Rock City was because the signs were the only things I saw.

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    1. Rock City and Lookout Mountain are beautiful.

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  2. What a fascinating post! I knew nothing about Rock City. But I totally agree with your last line -see nature and enjoy it wherever you are! Yes! Even in my own back yard. The world is so filled with beauty and interest.

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    1. Thank you! I love your comment...you need to come to my house and help me write my posts for my blog, my friend. You totally get me! :-)

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  3. What a great place! I'd love exploring those trails.
    Now I am wondering, when in those days (1930s to 60s) people would see the words "See Rock City" painted on barn roofs etc., how would they know what it meant? Nowadays, if in doubt, you'd simply google it, but back then, how were you to know what particular place it referred to, and how to get there?

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    1. I think one would "ask around" and find someone who did know about it....Also, we would ask a reference librarian who wouldn't keep it a secret.

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    2. Yes, that is would I would have said that people would have done...they just would have asked others!
      It does make you appreciate how easy everyone has it now, you can find just about anything on a search!

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  4. Hi Kay - looks amazing ... wonderful park to be able to go to - well I've noted it - should I ever get to Georgia ... thank you - cheers Hilary

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    1. There is a state park in Georgia that is also very close to it, it is Cloudland Canyon State Park and it is an amazing place to visit!!http://georgiagirlwithanenglishheart.blogspot.com/2013/04/cloudland-canyon-state-park.html
      There, you can look at my post about Cloudland Canyon from 2013, if you like! Hope that Eastbourne is doing well these days!

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  5. I enjoyed hearing about Rock City and some of the history too. Your pictures today are wonderful. I particularly liked that tiny little frog.

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    1. Isn't that tree frog the sweetest thing? He is resting on that banana pepper and seems quite happy!

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  6. I have seen those signs and wondered, now I know.

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    1. Stick with me and you will learn about advertising signs along with types of chickens! What a genius I am and such a help to humanity. LOL.

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  7. While i've been within driving distance, i've never actuallly had the chance to get to Rock City. Maybe someday soon.

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    1. SEE ROCK CITY!! HA, ha...and while you're there, go to Cloudland Canyon too!

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  8. Sounds fun. Being from the opposite corner of the country I don't know if I will see it.

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    1. Never say never, you might get to this part of the country one day! I went to Lake Tahoe once and I asked if we could cross over the state line into California, just so I had made it to California. Figured that might be the only time, and so far, that is the furthest west I have been.

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  9. A b;it of rock 'n rollin' going on here! :)

    I love the photos.

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  10. When I was a kid we traveled south many times but never stopped there. I remember the ads very well. Now as an adult who has 2 siblings living in the Atlanta area I will have to put this on my bucket list for a visit for sure! Loved the video and your photos. I received a ribbon at the fair for a pic of a tree frog last year! Have a good week and lots of fun walks!

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    1. Not too much time for walking these days, suffocating heat and thunderstorms! With TWO siblings in the area, you must get yourself down here and we will climb Stone Mountain together! Take care!

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  11. I'll admit I was slightly disappointed Rock City had nothing to do with music, but those gardens look absolutely beautiful. That was a very clever marketing campaign too!

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    1. Nothing to do with music! Why EVERYTHING has to do with music, you know me! LOL! No, I get your meaning but it is a interesting spot. Marketing, I should do a whole post on that subject! :-)

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  12. Thanks Kay both for the informative post and videomlink, which I just viewed. This is quite an amazing place and one which we would like to see. My cousin lives in GA too and so this site is in iur "to see" list when we takenour southern road trip. Incan see why you remain enchanted by it as well.

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  13. I had never heard of Rock City before you post, but I would LOVE it! Thanks for sharing, Kay!

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